Proverbs 5
1 [My] son, attend to my wisdom, and apply your ear to my words;
My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding;
2 that you may keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives you a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman;
That thou mayest keep discretion, And that thy lips may preserve knowledge!
3 for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases your palate:
Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 but afterwards you will find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.
But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 For the feet of folly lead those who deal with her down to the grave with death; and her steps are not established. (Sheol h7585)
Her feet go down to death; Her steps lay hold of the under-world. (Sheol h7585)
6 For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known.
That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not.
7 Now then, [my] son, hear me, and make not my words of none effect.
Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth!
8 Remove your way far from her; draw not near to the doors of her house:
Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house:
9 lest you give away your life to others, and your substance to the merciless:
Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one;
10 lest strangers be filled with your strength, and your labours come into the houses of strangers;
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien;
11 And you repent at last, when the flesh of your body is consumed,
And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 and you shall say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart avoided reproofs!
And say, “How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof!
13 I heard not the voice of him that instructed me, and taught me, neither did I apply mine ear.
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors;
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly.”
15 Drink waters out of your own vessels, and out of your own springing wells.
Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well:
16 Let not waters out of your fountain be spilt by you, but let your waters go into your streets.
So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water;
17 Let them be only your own, and let no stranger partake with you.
They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;
18 Let your fountain of water be [truly] your own; and rejoice with the wife of your youth.
And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth.
19 Let [your] loving hart and your graceful colt company with you, and let her be considered your own, and be with you at all times; for ravished with her love you shall be greatly increased.
A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.
20 Be not intimate with a strange woman, neither fold yourself in the arms of a woman not your own.
Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, and he looks on all his paths.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths.
22 Iniquities ensnare a man, and every one is bound in the chains of his own sins.
His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.
23 Such a man dies with the uninstructed; and he is cast forth from the abundance of his own substance, and has perished through folly.
He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.
